This invention relates to a closing device of a hinged door provided in a storing device equipped with a hinged door, such as a piece of furniture or a suspended cupboard, and adapted to restrict the opening of the hinged door at the time of an earthquake and, in particular, to a structure restricting the opening of a hinged door at the time of an earthquake.
In a storing device equipped with a hinged door, such as a piece of furniture or a suspended cupboard, there is provided a closing device for normally restricting the opening of the hinged door at the time of an earthquake in order to prevent the hinged door from being opened by the shaking of the earthquake to allow the things stored therein to fall. In a closing device of this type, a locking means provided in the storing device main body is hidden in a case in the normal condition. By the shaking of an earthquake, this locking means protrudes downward from the case, and the locking means thus protruding is engaged with a locking gadget provided on the hinged door to thereby restrict the opening of the hinged door, thereby preventing the stored objects from falling.
Specific examples of such a device are described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-322663, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 10-165249, etc. In one example, in the normal condition, a spherical body is positioned under a stopper of a locking means to thereby prevent downward movement of the locking means and maintain the locking means in a state in which it is hidden in a case. At the time of an earthquake, the spherical body rolls to depart from the position under the stopper of the locking means, whereby downward movement of the locking means is allowed.
However, in the above-described conventional closing device, the hinged door is locked in a half-open state, i.e., it is left slightly ajar. Thus, when the earthquake is over, it is necessary to perform a special canceling operation to cancel this locked state, which is very inconvenient.
Further, since the amount by which the locking means is vertically displaced is very large, the entire device has to be large and thick. When the width of the frame forming the hinged door is 4 to 5 cm at the most, as in the case in which a glass plate is fitted into the hinged door, a part of the closing device including the locking means is visible through the glass of the closed hinged door, resulting in a rather unsightly appearance.
It is an object of this invention to provide a small and thin closing device of a hinged door which eliminates the need for the canceling operation after earthquake and which can reliably prevent the hinged door from opening during earthquake.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a closing device of a hinged door which is provided in a storing device with a hinged door, such as a piece of furniture or a suspended cupboard, for restricting the opening of the hinged door at the time of an earthquake, the closing device being characterized by including: a case having a space therein and provided in a main body of the storing device; an opening formed in a bottom surface of the case; a locking member having at its top a flange portion larger than the opening and arranged in the opening so as to be upwardly movable, with the flange portion being situated inside the case; a plurality of moving spaces defined by dividing the space inside the cases; and a plurality of rolling members respectively accommodated in the moving spaces so as to be movable and adapted to be placed on the upper surface of the flange portion by a shaking force to thereby prevent upward movement of the locking member.
With this construction, under the normal condition, the locking member is capable of both upward and downward movements, so that if there is an obstacle below the locking member, the locking member can be passed over the obstacle by upward/downward movement when opening/closing the hinged door. Thus, the opening/closing of the hinged door is not restricted in any way.
At the time of an earthquake, only when upward movement of the locking member is prevented by preventing means and the locking member is prevented from moving, the locking member can be locked at one side of the hinged door, the movement of the hinged door being restricted to such a degree that the door can be slightly opened.
In this case, the plurality of rolling members accommodated in the moving spaces within the case function as the above-mentioned preventing means, and one of the rolling members is placed on the upper surface of the flange portion of the locking member by the shaking of an earthquake, whereby upward movement of the locking member is prevented.
Thus, according to the present invention, it is only necessary for the locking member to be capable of being locked at the hinged door when upward movement of the locking member is prevented, and the amount of movement in the vertical direction of the locking member may be small, whereby a reduction in the size and thickness of the device can be achieved, and even when a glass plate is fitted into the hinged door, the closing device is not easily seen through the glass, thereby making it possible to provide a storing device having a very satisfactory outward appearance. Further, by providing a plurality of rolling members, it is possible to cope with various types of earthquake shaking since one of the rolling members reacts to each particular type of shaking, whereby it is possible to reliably prevent upward movement of the locking member.
When the hinged door is provided with a restricting means which makes the locking of the locking member possible only when the movement of the locking member is prevented when opening or closing the door and restricts the opening of the hinged door to such a degree that it is slightly opened, the locking member can be locked to the restricting means only when the movement of the locking member is prevented at the time of an earthquake, so that during the earthquake, upward movement of the locking member is continuously prevented, and when the earthquake is over, upward movement of the locking member is not prevented by the rolling members. Thus, there is no need to perform a canceling operation after the earthquake as in the prior art, and it is possible to reliably prevent the hinged door from opening during earthquake, thus making it possible to provide a storing device which is highly reliable and user-friendly.
Further, the restricting means includes a support member supported by the hinged door, a locking portion formed at the forward end of the support member and having an inclined surface sloping down in the closing direction of the hinged door, and an elastic member which is provided in the portion of the support member in front of the locking portion, whose forward end is biased by an upward biasing force larger than the weight of the locking member, and which has an inclined surface sloping down in the opening direction of the hinged door, whereby, in the normal condition, as the hinged door is opened, the locking member moves upwardly along the inclined surface of the elastic member, and, as the hinged door is closed, the locking member moves upwardly along the inclined surface of the locking portion; at the time of an earthquake, at least one of the rolling members is placed on the upper surface of the flange portion, whereby a state is achieved in which upward movement of the locking member is prevented and in which the locking member can be engaged with the locking portion while pushing down the elastic member, thereby making it possible to restrict the movement of the hinged door to such a degree that it is slightly opened.
In this way, the support member supported by the hinged door, the locking portion formed on the support member, and the elastic member provided in front of the locking portion of the support member function as the restricting means, restricting the movement of the hinged door at the time of an earthquake to such a degree that it can be slightly opened.
In the present invention, the forward end portion of the elastic member has an inclined surface biased by an upward biasing force larger than the weight of the locking member and sloping down in the opening direction of the hinged door, so that, in the normal condition, as the hinged door is opened, the locking member climbs the inclined surface of the elastic member and moves upward, and, as the hinged door is closed, the locking member climbs the inclined surface of the locking portion and moves upward; at the time of an earthquake, at least one of the rolling members is placed on the upper surface of the locking member, whereby upward movement of the locking member is prevented. Thus, a state is achieved in which the locking member can be engaged with the locking portion while pushing down the elastic member.
When the earthquake is over, the rolling member placed on the upper surface of the locking member rolls to cancel the prevention of upward movement of the locking member, and the device is restored to a state which is the same as that in the normal condition without having to perform any special canceling operation.
In this way, in accordance with the present invention, when the earthquake is over, the rolling member placed on the upper surface of the locking member rolls to cancel the prevention of upward movement of the locking member, and the device can be restored to a state which is the same as that in the normal condition without having to perform any special canceling operation.
In order that the rolling member may easily roll and drop from the upper surface of the flange portion of the locking member when the device is not being shaken, it is desirable to incline the upper surface of the flange portion slightly outward.
Further, in the present invention, the rolling members may be spherical members. This makes it possible to cope with various type of earthquake shaking, and facilitates the handling, enabling the rolling members to be easily accommodated in the case.